Chronicling the Chic, Classic and Casual Style Duchess of Sussex (the former Meghan Markle)

January 15, 2018

Who would play Meghan Markle in Netflix’s The Crown?

We are taking a slight break from our normal fashion posts today to bring you a little Monday fun courtesy of some speculating about one of our favourite shows, The Crown. We teamed up with writer Teri Wilson who put together a list of amazing options for the casting team at Netflix to consider when they (hopefully) eventually reach Harry and Meghan’s love story. Without further ago, here is Teri’s take on everything you need to know about Meghan’s possible portrayers.

The engagement of Prince Harry and future American (!!) princess Meghan Markle has coincided perfectly with the release of Season 2 of Netflix’s royally popular series, The Crown. We’ve of course been binge-watching it like crazy, because The Crown is positively lush with everything we love, from royal drama to perfect replicas of gowns and jewelry worn by the Queen and Princess Margaret.

Image via The Crown on Twitter

Naturally, there’s nothing we’d love more than for The Crown to catch up with real life so we could watch the romance between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle play out onscreen. It just might be possible! According to everything that’s been released about Season 3, currently filming, Camilla Parker Bowles turns up. Which means we’re on the brink of the Diana era!

At the rate things are going, The Crown is tackling about a decade per season. Theoretically, we’d reach present day sometime around Season 6 or 7. If interest in the show right now is any indication, we can definitely see it lasting that long. Perhaps that’s why interviewers are already asking Matt Smith, who does an amazing job playing Prince Philip on The Crown, his opinion on who would best portray Meghan. Smith told Andy Cohen he thinks Selena Gomez would be the perfect choice.

We love Selena Gomez, and yes, we can kind of see a resemblance. But Meghan has been very outspoken about her biracial identity and how proud she is of her African American heritage. She wrote a very moving essay about it for her former lifestyle site The Tig, which you can still read at Elle UK.

For this reason, we love the idea of an authentic casting choice that would honor Meghan’s identity. We’re guessing Meghan would be on board with this idea, too. There are so many actresses who would do a wonderful job! Here are a few of our favorites:

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

First of all, Gugu herself has a royal connection! Just last summer she was awarded an MBE as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

And if you saw her award-winning performance in the historical motion picture Belle (if not, we highly suggest that you download it immediately), you know that she could totally nail the regal-yet-relatable role of Meghan.

Zendaya

She’s setting the big screen on fire with her role in The Greatest Showman currently, but perhaps she’s ready for a new role?

Yes, she’s a decade younger than Meghan but come on. Zendaya can do anything. Absolutely anything. She would shake up and glamorize The Crown in much the same way Meghan is revolutionizing the royal family. Plus, like Meghan, she’s a humanitarian, a global fashion icon and a laid back California girl. We might think she was born to play Prince Harry’s beloved.

Zoe Saldana

Like Meghan, Zoe is positively gorgeous. She’s just one Strathberry bag away from being a dead ringer for our favorite soon-to-be royal.

She’s also starred in the highest grossing movie of all time and been nominated for a whole slew of awards so we know she could tackle the job. Bonus: she’s a major dog lover and has a rescue pup named Mugsy, so she’d be a natural in the scenes with Bogart and Guy.

Misty Copeland

Okay, we know what you’re thinking—Misty is a ballet dancer, not an actor. But think again…Misty Copeland starred in the 2015 Broadway musical On the Town, where she acted as well as danced.

Also, ballet involves a huge amount of emotion and acting. We think having the world’s most famous ballerina play the world’s most famous royal fiancé would be an excellent idea. Plus we know Misty could definitely nail Meghan’s advanced yoga poses.

Rashida Jones

Rashida Jones is best known for her comedic side, but she’s definitely tackled serious roles.

Like Meghan, Rashida’s a dedicated philanthropist and supporter of young women and children, so there would definitely be a sense poetic justice if she were to take on the part.

Brooklyn Sudano

Taken star Brooklyn Sudano is the daughter of disco queen Donna Summer, which means she knows all about being entertainment royalty.

Plus, on Taken Brooklyn plays a lawyer! Um, hello? Maybe in addition to playing MM on The Crown she could also take over Meghan’s role as Rachel Zane on Suits.

What are your thoughts? Who would you want to see play Meghan on The Crown? Let us know on social media!

Of the ladies mentioned, any one of Brooklyn, Selena, Rashida and possibly Zendaya would do. For me though, its not about the actress being bi-racial but more about the spirit of the character ring portrayed and, besides, until I had read that Meghan is bi-racial, I had always assumed that she is “pure” Caucasian. Meghan declaring she is proud of her roots does not mean to say she believes only another bi-racial actress could ever portray her, in my humble opinion, since she does not appear to be hang up on colour.

I am mixed race and I wouldn’t want a white person to portray me as that would be erasing one side of my identity. It has to be a mixed race actress, and I think Brooklyn looks the most like Meghan. Selena Gomez doesn’t even look like Meghan.

Based on facial similarities alone I would pick either Misty Copeland or Brooklyn Sudano, who by the way I just mistook for Meghan. But I do think a new-comer might work better for this type of role, that way we’re not projecting the actress’ past work on her role as Meghan.

While I adore Misty Copeland and think there is a resemblance (and have seen her perform live, which is truly a sight to see!). There is another great choice, Paula Patton. Paula not only resembles Meghan, and has a similar background, but has the acting chops. Look her up and let me know what you think! 🙂

I agree that Brooklyn Sudano would be a great choice, also Amber Stevens West (also biracial) or Ashley Madekwe (she’s British, but she’s been living in the States for awhile so could do a good American accent). I do think it’s important that the actress be biracial since Meghan herself is biracial.

Zoe Soldana is black, not biracial like Meghan. Not sure about the others that I think they are biracial or mixed, but still none look like Meghan who looks more like a latina white woman with olive skin than the average black women, even mixed. Most of these beautiful ladies look dark skinned compared to her. Casting a black woman who is visibly less racially ambiguous than her may be controversial and not an accurate representation of her. If you didn’t know she was part black, would you cast a black woman to play her or you’d just pick a brunette, light skinned, Latina woman?

I think it is important to cast an actress that is true to Meghan’s heritage. For years the entertainment industry has decided that fair skinned or biracial actresses must play the roles of Caucasian or Latina women rather than black or biracial women so as not to confuse the Caucasian mainstream audience, but make no mistake most people of color (particularly Black people) have always been able to see that Meghan along with many of these other actresses mentioned, are of mixed heritage and not Caucasian. Generally, Caucasians make this mistake. It is important that the global culture not feel like they need to “White Out” everything of color with a particularly strong desire to “Erase Blackness” as if it were some kind of stain. Allowing a talented bi-racial actress with both Black and White heritage to play the role gives the utmost respect to Meghan and her family. It’s about respect for her heritage. The people who think heritage does not matter are generally White people who do not care to understand it’s importance. If heritage did not matter to the world there would have been zero uproar about Meghan’s heritage or her decision to include aspects of her African American culture in the ceremony. Heritage is truth. The whole globe and all people in it is our community. We need to learn to love and honor that.